“What Karnataka yearns for is a transparent, incorruptible chief minister like Bihar’s Nitish Kumar, says Shashank N.D., the founder of Practo, which builds online software for doctors. Bangalore envying Bihar? Who would have even imagined that a few years ago, he asks.

“Event manager Ajith Rao says he envies Gujarat for Narendra Modi, its chief minister. Modi tops the list of India’s most dynamic chief ministers, assertive and capable, says Rao. In contrast, many find Yediyurappa a weak ruler, constantly bogged down by his inability to manage his legislators, his ministers and his partymen.

“Yediyurappa lives dangerously, crying during TV interviews and hurling allegations of voodoo against his rivals. He comes across as feeble and ineffectual. Contrast Karnataka’s leadership with New Delhi’s Sheila Dikshit who appears to be a strong administrator and a vocal politician, says media consultant Usha Radhakrishnan. “

12 comments

I would like to humbly tell Ms. Saritha Rai of Indian Express that “a transparent, incorruptible chief minister” is NOT possible under our socialist system.

Socialism brings absolute power to the ruling elite, and as we all know “absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

So lets stop whining about individuals, lets focus on the bigger issue, the route cause of our corruption. Let us talk about reforming this socialism. Lets talk about taking away all economic and discretionary powers from our elected representatives.

Corrupt politicians are like weeds in a wheat field. if a farmer resorts to plucking out each and every weed from his field, then he will take forever to clean up his land. So the smart way is to spread a kind of fertilizer that makes it impossible for weeds to grow.

@Objectivist mantra – Well said. We need to first recognize that corruption has become a systemic issue and not just an ethical issue. To fix that we need to fix the loopholes in the system. The presence of corruption is closely linked to the living conditions as well as accessibility to resources. We cannot simply expect first world ethics with third world conditions.
There was another post lamenting the demise of the left parties. We have umpteen number of parties that have taken up the cause of leftists even if they pay lip sympathy to those. I would rather be worried about the absence of a genuine right of center party that can influence public thinking and bring genuine reform.
Gaby – I agree we need a root cause identification as well as a route change.

It gives me immense pleasure to see more and more people on churumuri realizing the evil that is socialism and regressive leftist thinking, and recognizing that it lies at the root of all problems in India! May the realization spread far and wide!

Yearning is one thing voting is another. Only 44 percent of Bangalore voted in the 2008 assembly polls. It is the voters who decided the fate of Yeddyurappa and Karnataka – warts and all. We the people are yet to fathom what it means to be a sovereign socialist secular democratic republic. Thankfully the darling of the urban masses S M Krishna is not being touted as a great leader.